


Alarm Clock

by panchostokes (badwolfrun)



Series: Whumptober [3]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Episode: s05e24-25 Grave Danger, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post Grave Danger, Sleep Deprivation, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 12:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20892020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolfrun/pseuds/panchostokes
Summary: Nick hasn't slept in over twenty-four hours and it shows. (whumptober day three: delirium)





	Alarm Clock

**Author's Note:**

> You didn't think Nick was going to be free from my wrath during whumptober, did you?

He was having difficulty sleeping, to nobody’s surprise but his own. 

He had been awake for the past twenty four hours--well, now pushing damn near thirty--and couldn’t seem to shut his eyes without seeing a lightbulb between his feet, two fans blowing far too gently on his sticky, sweaty body. Couldn’t stop the cracks spreading over his eyes, through his body, splitting him apart into a million pieces. Pieces that tugged at his skin, broken flesh bubbled up into the red welts that were dotted all over his skin. He hated a lot of things about hospitals, but the overly bright florescent lights showing him the red polka dots on his body just seemed to make everything worse.

His eyes felt like they were sunken back into his skull, couldn’t feel his nose. His lips parted, sucked in as much air as he could in one single breath, deflated, then sucked in more, a constant cycle, because he didn’t know when the luxury of free flowing air would be robbed from him again.

“C’mon, buddy, why don’t we try to get some sleep?” Warrick kept prodding him, gently, to just lie down, shut down his body--it was a question Nick had asked himself many times, because what else would he do anyway? Especially once the light was shot out, left in complete darkness, once his body reached a closer to normal temperature without the added heat of the light cooking him alive. He could have fallen asleep, and if he was lucky, woken up when they found him. 

“C-can’t sleep,” Nick rasped, his voice still tight, cracked, dry. “Might not wake up.”

“I’ll be your alarm clock, man, trust me, you’ll wake up again.”

“Can’t even close my eyes…”

Not that he even wanted to, standing up, staring out the window overlooking the city, he was perfectly content to see that there was still a world above ground.

“I know, I know,” Warrick cooed, planted a hand on his shoulder, pushing him towards the bed. Nick grabbed Warrick’s hand, clutched it to his chest. 

“Skulls don’t have eyelids.” 

Warrick stopped their travel to the bed, moved his hand from Nick’s shoulder to snap his fingers in front of Nick’s face. For the first time, he noticed the tears at the edges of Nick’s eyes, the strain as he kept his eyelids from closing in on him. 

“Nick, buddy, you gotta blink man.”

“I can’t!” Nick blurted out. “Too dark...Room too bright…” 

They had tried to give him sedatives, but the minute his arm was grabbed to inject the needle into his skin, he freaked out, almost punched the poor nurse in the face. Overtired, running on fumes, Nick had run to the other side of the room--Warrick was grateful he didn’t head towards the door. He pleaded to stay awake, to not be put to sleep, in just two words that shattered Warrick’s already broken heart, “ _ not again. _ ”

“Hey, you’re not there anymore. We dug you out. Alive. You’re above ground.”

“‘Bove ground?” Nick asked in a painfully hopeful voice. He moved Warrick’s hand closer to his face, Warrick felt the short, rapid warm breath call the goosebumps out of skin. An odd sense of deja vu, with his partner not in his right mind, though this time, he was more...touchy-feely. Clinging onto Warrick, to reaffirm that he was no longer alone, desperate for touch. 

“Yeah, we got you. We got you.”

He guided Nick to sit on the bed. 

“So...Soft…” Nick muttered. He was surprised he still knew the meaning of the word.

“How about we close our eyes?”

“Softer than the box.”

“The box is gone, Nicky. This is a bed, you’re in the hospital. Now, let’s close our eyes…”

“No!” He motioned to stand up again, but Warrick put a hand on his chest, sat him back down. Nick put his hand on Warrick’s chest, another on his shoulder. Grounded Warrick to the spot as Warrick grounded him to the bed.

“We’re gonna blink together, okay? On three. One...two...three…”

He watched as Nick’s eyelids descended, pushed the tears over the edge of his lower eyelids, creating a path of mud down the bumpy dirt path of his face. He opened his eyes faster than he had closed them, but it was a start.

“There we go, see that wasn’t so hard. Let’s do it again…”

Nick’s face crumbled, chin wobbled, but he nodded, closed his eyes again. And again, every time his eyes stayed closed a little longer. 

“Alright, let’s lay back--”

“Not on my back!” Nick yelped as his back fell against the mattress. He clung himself closer to Warrick, Warrick nearly fell on top of him.

“Okay, here…” 

Warrick set the bed on an incline, so that Nick wouldn’t be flat on his back, quickly realizing he might not appreciate the position. He found the remote that controlled the lights, dimmed them--not shutting them completely off. 

“Better?” Warrick asked. Nick released his clutch on Warrick, leaned back on the pillow, nodding.

“One more time, we’re gonna close our eyes, on three...One...two…”

Nick pat Warrick on the head before he could say three.

“What was that for?” 

“Setting my alarm.” 

A sad smile broke through his fallen face, he put a hand on Nick’s cheek, as gently as he could without hurting the welts. 

“It’s time to go to sleep, Nick.”

“I don’t wanna go…” Nick moaned. “Please...might not…”

“You’re gonna wake up. You just set your alarm, remember?”

Warrick removed Nick’s trembling hand from his head, put it back on the bed, but kept their fingers entwined. 

“Close your eyes...fall asleep. Dream of the birds flying in the sky, you’re flying with them, buddy. You’re safe. We got you. One...two… _ three. _ ”

Nick shut his eyes, held them closed for more than a minute, and fell into an uneasy slumber, but it was a slumber nonetheless. 


End file.
